Obstacles
by NotYourTypicalEmily
Summary: The aftermath of the opera leaves both sides unable to carry on without resorting to drastic measures. Shilo finds herself in dangerous company. Better than the summary makes it sound!


Obstacles

Amber Sweet was a businesswoman. A sophisticated and highly respected businesswoman.

Though, she still felt like a child playing a game. Her brothers did nothing to help as they carried on exactly as they did when their father was alive, she had auctioned her face as a symbol of change and it seemed as though nothing had really changed at all. The only thing that was different about the whole situation was that Amber was worried.

Well, perhaps 'worried' wasn't the word, 'concerned' seemed to fit her better, Smoothing her hair down, she glanced at the hologram of the younger girl on the paper work in front of her and anxiously nibbled her lip before letting her head nod forward and hit the desk. Shilo Wallace was a hard one to track down and with rumors circulating about the family's relations with her it was hard to keep Amber's mind on anything but the naïve sweetheart who Amber relished thought of strangling.

"Sorella!" Her temples pounded as she looked up into the face of another poor girl being worn by her elder brother, his appearance almost went through her nowadays and she struggled to remember what he looked like when he wasn't modeling his latest girlfriend over his own face.

"Pavi?" she murmured through gritted teeth, not in the mood to listen to him titter on about something that didn't catch her interest.

"You look-a stressed," he made his way behind her desk, drumming his fingers on the hardwood as he did before resting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them in a relaxing rhythm that made his sister almost purr as she felt the knots in her back unwind. Perhaps the flamboyant little twat was good for some things after all. After a while he peered over her and at the paperwork spread over her desk and let his chin rest on her shoulder,

"She's-a interesting, eh Amber? Pretty little face…." She rolled her eyes before turning to face him, a smile plastered over her face as she twitched him off her shoulder making him growl playfully.

"Don't get any ideas, Casanova, we need to be _careful_ with her, people are already talking and our reputation has already gone downhill. You won't be touching her 'pretty little face' any time soon, capiche?"

"Si capo."

In the midst of the banter, the eldest brother had let himself in, his blade gleamed in his hand as he sneered at the other two before rolling his eyes and shooting a threatening warning look at them two before exploding and throwing his knife to the wall behind them, making the two siblings jump for a fraction of a second. He began to let out a string of abuse before his sister interrupted him with an abrupt cough.

"What is it, Luigi?"

"Two people are outside, saying you hired them for some shit," immediately Amber stood up and her face lit up like a small child's would on their birthday as she sashayed across the room and to the doors before turning to look at her perplexed brothers who gawped at her expectantly. Nodding triumphantly she grappled the handles before nodding at them both in turn,

"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the Angeletti siblings," the brothers looked each other skeptically but before they could voice their concerns, Amber had already began speaking again, "I assure you, sweethearts, they've been repeatedly recommended, " her sweet grin turned back to the grimace they were used to, "So don't screw this meeting up, assholes." With that she opened the doors with a flourish revealing two very bored spectacles lounging around the waiting room.

They were wonderfully compelling to look at. Stood pacing was a tall and lean male, he turned first and grinned, one eye was normal and shone when he smiled the other was obviously mechanical and reminiscent of the late Blind Mag's pair, his hair was touselled and black falling just short of his shoulders, overall he looked enticingly dangerous with a boyish flair that was gripping. His toned body was clothed mainly in leather, he adorned leather bondage trousers, a tight black vest stretched over his toned torso and a large trench coat draped over his broad shoulders, he was dressed so casual it was hard to believe he was there on a business opportunity. He straightened up his leather trench coat and extended a hand politely, making his way to the strong woman that stood before him, as she took his hand to shake, he pulled her closer and kissed both cheeks in an inviting manner.

Perched on the end of a sofa and fashioning a paper plane out of a GeneCo leaflet was a petite and doll like girl who couldn't have been much older than eighteen. Her blue almond eyes were identical to the other's natural eye and a small cross scar lay just on her collarbone, her black hair fell half way down her back in soft, straight strands. Her petite frame was dressed in black hot pants and striped stockings held up by garters, she wore a corseted waistcoat over a simple ruffled button-down white shirt. She looked up from her paper plane and smiled sweetly before nodding and joining her brother with greeting their new employers.

Amber grinned proudly at the two and shut the door before turning to look at her brother's faces. As usual, Luigi looked enraged as he plucked the blade he had previously thrown at her and her elder brother from the opposite wall and began wiping it with his shirt menacingly, his eyes glued to the male whom was now simply stood innocently. Pavi had a cat-like grin painted on his synthetic face as he surveyed the new woman like a predator would whilst contemplating the easiest and most efficient method in ending it's prey's life. It was worrying to see them both so engrossed with the newcomers but all it took was Amber briskly clearing her throat and stamping her heel to get their attention.

"The little brat thinks she can run and hide, leaving us to deal with the consequences she left behind, right? Not any more… May I introduce Gabriel and Lori Romero? Top bounty hunters, the best you can get in the world, or so I've been told. Shilo Wallace will be found and GeneCo can finally move on."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Kid, it's me. Come out, I just saw you."

Graverobber was _not_ the sympathetic type, he had learned the hard way that it was much easier to live by the rule 'every man for himself.' However, he found himself feeling obligated to check on the girl and when he saw she wasn't at her house and rumors began to circulate about her wellbeing it only meant his own anxieties flared up, although, his pride would never let him admit that he was actually worried about her.

"Go away!"

Her voice cut through the night's heavy air and took him aback slightly. He shook his head and followed what he heard, "Come on kid, it's your old pal Graverobber coming for a friendly visit. No one's seen you since the opera and I have some… stuff I have to talk to you about."

There was a few hesitant and tense moments, just when Graverobber was about to carry on yelling blindly, a few reluctant footsteps echoed off the alley's pavement and a timid looking Shilo stepped out with her head bent so she was looking at the floor. His eyebrows shot an inch up his forehead; it was hard to believe the shrinking wildflower was the same girl whom had threatened to shoot the potent Rotti Largo only mere weeks before. His lips broke out into a smile before he waltzed over to her, his expression friendly but his eyes still gleaming threateningly enough to make her feel on edge.

"Where've you been, kid? Everyone's looking for you and some people think the Largo bosses had you killed, y'know, you're a threat to their position in GeneCo or something." She shook her head, black hair wildly whipping around in cascades about her shoulders, her eyes were still firmly on the ground and there was no sign of her looking him in the face any time soon. He grabbed her chin and made her look him in the face, partly because he was impatient but also because he needed to see her face again.

She was still beautiful. He had said it to her before, but she simply ignored him and pursued her hunt for her 'cure'. It was hard to look at her again now whilst all he was thinking about was how anyone would want to hurt such a pretty face. Her dark eyes watered slightly and clear tears clung to her bottom lashes, her luminous pale complexion shone under the lamplight and her gentle lips were pursed in an effort to stop the tears. Graverobber grinned,

"Hey kid, no need to cry, I just wanted to talk. Seriously, stop crying." He saw her chest heave slightly as she swallowed nervously before yanking her head back and looking away and murmuring something that he couldn't quite hear. He raised a brow and tapped his ear before chuckling huskily, her nose wrinkled as he moved closer and the scent of death filled the air between her and the man towering over her.

"I'm not crying," Shilo repeated, louder this time, "I just decided to leave and let it die out for a while, besides…It's not like I'm going back to _that_ hell-hole by myself."

It was pretty obvious that the teen had ulterior motives, however, Graverobber seemed to be blissfully unaware and furrowed his brow. "Hell-hole? Where?"

"Home," her answer was immediate. If Graverobber was going to follow her around, she reasoned that she might as well put him to use. In all honesty, she wanted to go back since, in all actuality, it was hers now. Her first action would be to take down all traces of both parents, turn it to her own and actually look around it for once, in all her seventeen years the most she had done when it came to looking around her abode was occasionally walking to her Mother's tomb and on some rare occasions when her Father let her come downstairs to eat in the dinning room but those times were mainly saved for holidays and celebrations. Graverobber's lips twitched up into a grin,

"After I've spent all this time chasing you? Pretty boring, kid." He rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Well, I could accompany you of course but then…What the hell is in it for me, eh?"

She bit her lip and returned her gaze to the floor beneath her. Of course Graverobber would also have ulterior motives and there was nothing she was willing to give him that crossed her mind. Shilo felt his rough touch grapple at her forearm and she looked up to see him with an even wider grin etched onto his face,

"I'm sure I can think of something…Come on then, we'll discuss it on the way."

Perhaps she should have run? All her instincts screamed at her to do so, however, she quickly found that her disobedient streak that she had managed to finally obtain the last few weeks ago flared up again and won the battle with her common sense. Therefore, she followed the man blindly.


End file.
